Tearstrip removing guide



y 1962 A. A. REYNOLDS 3,034,681

' TEARSTRIP REMOVING GUIDE Filed Feb. 6, 1961 //v VE/V r05: Albert A. Reyna/0's 4 TTORNEY United States Patent Filed Feb. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 87,379

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to a guide for controlling the horizontal and vertical movement of the key during use in removing the tearstrip from tearstrip cans.

:Many commodities are packaged in cans having tearstrips thereon for breaking the seals and opening the cans. Coffee, vegetable and animal shortenings, packed candy, peanuts, etc. are illustrative of such commodities. It is understood that the novel guide of the present invention may be used in removing the tearstrip from any suitable can regardless of the commodity packed therein.

Frequently difficulty is experienced at the present time in removing the tearstrip because of uneven winding of the tearstrip on the key. This results not only in frustration but also in the possibility of injury due to the sharp edges of the tearstrip. This difficulty is avoided by the novel guide of the present invention which serves to control both the horizontal and the vertical movement of the key and accordingly results in even winding of the tearstrip on the key.

The novel guide of the present invention offers numerous advantages. (1) It permits the use of the key which normally comes with the can and accordingly avoids the expense of a new key. (2) The guide is of simple construction and accordingly may be made and sold at a nominal cost. Many of the heretofore suggested devices are of complicated design and include cranks, gears, wheels, axles, etc., all of which increase the cost of the device to a point where it exceeds reason and the device accordingly is not commercially attractive. (3)The guide of the present invention has no moving parts and therefore does not sulfer the disadvantage of the moving parts sticking or breaking. In summary, the novel guide of the present invention is simple, yet effective, and in its simplicity offers the important advantages of low cost and freedom from breakdown.

The invention is explained with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective front view of a tearstrip can showing the guide in place.

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the guide.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the guide.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the guide.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side view and shows the key inserted in the guide and the tip of the tearstrip inserted in the key.

In the interest of simplicity in describing the drawing, like parts in the different figures of the drawing are assigned like numbers.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 illustrates a conventional tearstrip can, generally about 5" in diameter, having tearstrip 2 and top cover 3, the latter having a raised annular ridge 4. The novel guide of the present invention is designated as 5 and, as more fully shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, comprises a rounded plate 6 attached to a pair of laterally projecting parallel down-turned loops 7. The loops 7 are separated by about A;" which is sufiicient for free movement of the key during winding of the tearstrip but will not permit undue horizontal movement of the key. It will be noted that loop 7 has a raised portion 8 so that the guide clears the annular ridge 4 on the top of the can. The bottom portion of loop 7 preferably is turned in sufficiently to almost touch can 1 and thus serves also to guide the key during winding of the tearstrip. In another embodiment the bottom portion of loop 7 may just contact the can and, in this embodiment, preferably is rounded off ,so'

that it rides easily on the can during the winding operation.

It will be noted that plate 6 is rounded at the outer rim to fit the contour of the can so that the guide readily rotates on the top of the can as the Winding progresses. In the case here illustrated, plate 6 has an enlarged portion which will serve as a rest for the thumb to press the guide against the can during winding of the tearstrip. It is understood that the plate may be of any suitable size and shape, ranging up to just short of the inside diameter of the top of the can and as small as convenient to provide a surface to press the guide against the top of the can. However, a plate of about the size and shape indicated in FIGURE 1 of the drawing is of advantage in readily adapting to cans having either a depressed or a raised portion in the center of the top of the can.

Referring to FIGURE 5 of the drawing, it will be seen that key 9 is conventional and normally comes with the can. Key 9 is provided with shank 10 having longitudinal slot 11. Tip 12 of tearstrip 13 is inserted in slot 11 and the key is inserted between loops 7 or the key is first inserted between loops 7 and the tip 12 then is inserted into slot 11, whichever is the most convenient Winding of the tearstrip on the key now is readily accomplished by pressing the thumb on plate 6 and turning the key. Generally it is advisable to proceed in the usual manner of turning the can on its side to facilitate winding. Usually the thumb on the left hand will press against plate 6 and the key is turned with the fingers of the right hand.

It will be noted that the key is prevented from undue horizontal movement by the pair of loops 7 and from vertical movement downward by the top of key 9 and from vertical movement upward by the increased diameter of the tearstrip during winding on the key.

Guide 5 may be made out of any suitable material as, for example, metal, wood, hard plastic, etc. Any suitable metal may be used including sheet steel, aluminum, copper, tin, etc. Although the guide may be made from separate parts and suitably attached, preferably it is made from a single piece of metal and thus readily may be manufactured by inexpensive stamping and bending operations. The width of loop 7 may be of any suitable dimension and may range from Ma" 10 /2 or thereabouts and preferably from A to /8". This width may vary with the thickness and kind of material used in manufacturing the plate. The loops must be rigid and therefore the width thereof will be inversely proportional to the strength of the material used in manufacturing the guide.

Because the guide of the present invention is used in connection with food products, it is desirable that the guide be given a suitable plating including, for example, tin plating, nickel plating, copper plating, silver plating, etc. and this is readily accomplished by conventional dipping, spraying, etc. When the guide is to be used for other than food products, the plating may be eliminated if desired.

I claim as my invention:

A sheet metal guide for controlling the vertical and horizontal movement of a tearstrip key during its use in removing the tearstrip from a tearstrip can, said guide comprising a rounded plate having integrally formed therewith a pair of laterally extending loops spaced a short distance horizontally from each other and providing an opening therebetween for inserting and removing a key, each of said loops having a raised portion at its point of contact with said plate, a planar horizontal portion extending outwardly from the top end of said raised portion in a plane parallel to the plane of the rounded plate and thereby clearing the annular ridge at the top of said can and providing for the free movement of said guide in a horizontal plane, a portion depending downwardly from the outer end of the said horizontal portion and an inwardly turned portion extending from the lower 5 end of said depending portion in substantially parallel relation to said planar horizontal portion and approaching the outer circumference of said can at a point between said tearstrip and said annular ridge, said plate adapted to rest against the inside of said annular ridge at the top of said can and adapted to rotate in a horizontal plane concentrically within said annular ridge in response to movement of said key.

Moore Dec. 3, 1901 De Fazio Oct. 15, 1957 

